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2013-2014 GRADUATE BULLETIN - The University of Akron

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Graduate Courses 113<br />

541 QUANTUM PHYSICS I 3 credits<br />

Prerequisites: Admission to the physics master’s program or permission. Introduction to quantum<br />

theory, Schrodinger equation, observables, angular momentum, perturbation theory, variational<br />

principle, bound states, scattering theory, radiative interactions, spin and the Pauli Principle.<br />

542 QUANTUM PHYSICS II 3 credits<br />

Prerequisite: Admission to the physics master’s program or permission. Applications <strong>of</strong> quantum<br />

mechanics to atomic, nuclear and solid state physics. Tunneling and alpha decay, periodic<br />

potential, Hydrogen and Helium atoms, interatomic forces, quantum statistics.<br />

551 ADVANCED LABORATORY I 3 credits<br />

Prerequisite: Admission to the physics master’s program or permission. Experimental techniques<br />

applicable to research-type projects in contemporary physics. FT-IR spectroscopy, optical<br />

spectroscopy, lasers, SPM, and thin-film growth and characterization.<br />

552 ADVANCED LABORATORY II 3 credits<br />

Prerequisite: Admission to the physics master’s program or permission. Experimental projects<br />

applicable to contemporary physics. Diode and dye lasers, laser feedback, chaos, NMR, electron<br />

tunneling, and fiber optics.<br />

556 TECHNIQUES OF PHYSICS INSTRUCTION 1 credit<br />

Prerequisite: Admission to the physics master’s program or permission. Teaching assistants<br />

are introduced to current research in learning physics, shown applications for their labroom,<br />

and trained in skills needed as a laboratory teaching assistant.<br />

570 INTRODUCTION TO SOLID-STATE PHYSICS 3 credits<br />

Prerequisite: Admission to the physics master’s program or permission. Account <strong>of</strong> basic<br />

physical processes occurring in solids, with emphasis on fundamental relation between these<br />

processes and periodicity <strong>of</strong> crystalline lattice.<br />

581,2METHODS OF MATHEMATICAL PHYSICS I AND II<br />

3 credits each<br />

Prerequisites: Admission to the physics master’s program or permission. Vectors, generalized<br />

coordinates, tensors, calculus <strong>of</strong> variations, vector spaces, linear transformations, matrices,<br />

eigenvalues, Hilbert space, boundary value problems, transcendental functions, complex variables,<br />

analytic functions, Green’s functions, integral equations.<br />

588 SELECTED TOPICS: PHYSICS 1-4 credits<br />

(May be repeated) Prerequisite: Admission to the physics master’s program or permission.<br />

Consideration <strong>of</strong> selected topics, procedures, techniques, materials or apparatus <strong>of</strong> current<br />

interest in physics.<br />

590 WORKSHOP 1-4 credits<br />

(May be repeated.) Prerequisite: Admission to the physics master’s program or permission.<br />

Further investigations <strong>of</strong> various selected topics in physics, under guidance <strong>of</strong> faculty member.<br />

597 INDEPENDENT STUDY 1-4 credits<br />

(May be repeated.) Prerequisite: Admission to the physics master’s program or permission.<br />

Further investigations <strong>of</strong> various selected topics in physics, under guidance <strong>of</strong> faculty member.<br />

598 PHYSICS COLLOQUIUM 1 credit<br />

Prerequisite: Admission to the physics master’s program or permissionLectures on current<br />

research topics in physics by invited speakers. May be repeated, but only one credit counts<br />

toward M.S. degree. Credit/Noncredit.<br />

605 COMPUTER PHYSICS: NUMERICAL SOLUTIONS TO PHYSICS PROBLEMS I 3 credits<br />

Prerequisite: Admission to the physics master’s program or permission. Review <strong>of</strong> FORTRAN<br />

and basic topics in computer science. Numerical solutions to physics problems, including<br />

Newton’s and Schrodinger’s equations. Treatment and reduction <strong>of</strong> experimental data, plotting,<br />

simulation.<br />

606 COMPUTER PHYSICS: NUMERICAL SOLUTIONS TO PHYSICS PROBLEMS II 3 credits<br />

Prerequisite: Admission to the physics master’s program or permission. Data reduction, Calcomp<br />

plotting, comparison <strong>of</strong> theoretical models with data, linear and non-linear least squares<br />

curve-fitting. May accommodate scientific problems <strong>of</strong> individual interest.<br />

610 SURFACE PHYSICS 3 credits<br />

Prerequisite: Admission to the physics master’s program or permission. An interdisciplinary<br />

course stressing the fundamentals and applications <strong>of</strong> physics at surfaces, including corrosion,<br />

catalysis, adhesion, and tribology.<br />

615 ELECTROMAGNETIC THEORY I 3 credits<br />

Prerequisite: Admission to the physics master’s program or permission. Electrostatics and<br />

magnetostatics at advanced level for graduate students, boundary value problems, dielectrics,<br />

multipole expansions, time-varying fields, Maxwell’s equations and electromagnetic waves,<br />

reflection, refraction, wave guides and cavities.<br />

616 ELECTROMAGNETIC THEORY II 3 credits<br />

Prerequisite: Admission to the physics master’s program or permission. Scattering and diffraction,<br />

plasma physics, special theory <strong>of</strong> relativity, dynamics <strong>of</strong> relativistic particles in fields,<br />

collisions <strong>of</strong> charged particles, radiation from moving charges, bremsstrahlung, multipole<br />

fields.<br />

625 QUANTUM MECHANICS I 3 credits<br />

Prerequisites: Admission to the physics master’s program or permission. Basic concepts <strong>of</strong><br />

quantum mechanics, representation theory, particle in a central field, addition <strong>of</strong> angular<br />

momenta and spins, Clebsch-Gordon coefficients, perturbation theory, scattering, transition<br />

probabilities.<br />

626 QUANTUM MECHANICS II 3 credits<br />

Prerequisite: Admission to the physics master’s program or permission. Foundations <strong>of</strong> relativistic<br />

quantum mechanics. Klein-Gordon and Dirac equations, spin-zero and spin-1/2 particles<br />

in electromagnetic field, second quantization <strong>of</strong> bosons and fermions, superfluidity and<br />

super conductivity.<br />

641 LAGRANGIAN MECHANICS 3 credits<br />

Prerequisite: Admission to the physics master’s program or permission. Principle <strong>of</strong> least<br />

action and Lagrangian equation <strong>of</strong> motion, conservation laws, integration <strong>of</strong> equation <strong>of</strong><br />

motion, collisions, small oscillations, Hamilton’s equations, canonical transformations.<br />

661 STATISTICAL MECHANICS 3 credits<br />

Prerequisite: Admission to the physics master’s program or permission. Fundamental principles<br />

<strong>of</strong> statistical mechanics, Gibbs, Fermi and Bose Statistics, solids, liquids, gases, phase<br />

equilibrium, chemical reactions.<br />

669 CRITICAL PHENOMENA AND PHASE TRANSITIONS 3 credits<br />

Prerequisites: Admission to the physics master’s program or permission. Modern theory <strong>of</strong> critical<br />

phenomena. Landau theory. Spin systems, binary mixtures, polymers and liquid crystals.<br />

Multicomponent systems. Multicritical points. Renormalization. Epsilon-expansions <strong>of</strong> critical<br />

exponents.<br />

685 SOLID-STATE PHYSICS I 3 credits<br />

Prerequisites: Admission to the physics master’s program or permission. <strong>The</strong>ory <strong>of</strong> physics <strong>of</strong><br />

crystalline solids. Properties <strong>of</strong> reciprocal lattice and Bloch’s theorem. Lattice dynamics and<br />

specific heat. Electron states; cellular method, tight-binding method, Green’s function method.<br />

686 SOLID-STATE PHYSICS II 3 credits<br />

Prerequisite: Admission to the physics master’s program or permission. Orthogonalized plane<br />

and pseudo potentials. Electron-electron interaction; screening by impurities. Friedel sum rule<br />

and plasma oscillations. Dynamics <strong>of</strong> electrons, transport properties and Fermi surface.<br />

689 SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN THEORETICAL PHYSICS 1-3 credits<br />

(May be repeated.) Prerequisite: Admission to the physics master’s program or permission.<br />

Intended to facilitate expansion <strong>of</strong> particular areas <strong>of</strong> interest in theoretical physics, by consultation<br />

with faculty member and independent study beyond available course work.<br />

691 SEMINAR IN THEORETICAL PHYSICS 1-3 credits<br />

(May be repeated.) Prerequisite: Admission to the physics master’s program or permission.<br />

697 <strong>GRADUATE</strong> RESEARCH 1-5 credits<br />

Prerequisite: Admission to the physics master’s program or permission. Candidates for M.S.<br />

degree may obtain up to five credits for faculty supervised research projects. Grades and credit<br />

received at completion <strong>of</strong> such projects.<br />

698 SPECIAL TOPICS: PHYSICS 1-4 credits<br />

Prerequisite: Admission to the physics master’s program or permission. Enables student who<br />

needs information in special areas, in which no formal course is <strong>of</strong>fered, to acquire knowledge<br />

in these areas.<br />

699 MASTER’S THESIS 1 credit<br />

Prerequisite: Admission to the physics master’s program or permission. With approval <strong>of</strong><br />

department, one credit may be earned by candidate for M.S. degree upon satisfactory completion<br />

<strong>of</strong> a master’s thesis.<br />

879 DOCTORAL RESEARCH 1-15 credits<br />

(May be repeated.) Prerequisite: approval <strong>of</strong> the Student Advisory Committee for Ph.D.<br />

research in physics, physical chemistry, polymer science, applied mathematics or electrical<br />

engineering. Original research by a Ph.D. candidate in various disciplines under the guidance<br />

<strong>of</strong> physics faculty.<br />

POLITICAL SCIENCE 3700:<br />

500 POLITICAL EXTREMISM AND VIOLENCE 3 credits<br />

This course examines the causes and consequences <strong>of</strong> political extremism and political violence<br />

in democracies and failed democracies.<br />

502 POLITICS AND THE MEDIA 3 credits<br />

Examination <strong>of</strong> relationships between the press, the news media and political decision makers.<br />

503 MEDIA, CRIME, AND PUBLIC OPINION 3 credits<br />

Examines the social construction <strong>of</strong> crime in mass media and how it impacts public opinion,<br />

including fear <strong>of</strong> crime, beliefs about crime causation, and crime policy.<br />

510 INTERNATIONAL SECURITY POLICY 3 credits<br />

Introduction to political uses <strong>of</strong> military forces. Major focus on methodological, conceptual, and<br />

ethical dilemmas confronted in developing and implementing defense policy.<br />

513 GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH THREATS 3 credits<br />

An introduction to comparative global biological and public health security policy. Topics<br />

include: infectious disease outbreaks, bioterrorism, and potential “nano-terrorism.”<br />

514 WEALTH AND POWER AMONG NATIONS 3 credits<br />

Studies relationship between politics and economy; mesh theoretical perspectives with exploration<br />

<strong>of</strong> the key empirical issues. Topics include: trade, relations, unions, finance, development,<br />

aid, sanctions.<br />

522 UNDERSTANDING RACIAL AND GENDER CONFLICT 3 credits<br />

This is the core course for the Certificates in Racial and Gender Conflict, providing students<br />

with an opportunity to intensively examine racial and gender conflict.<br />

537 GOVERNMENT VERSUS ORGANIZED CRIME 3 credits<br />

<strong>The</strong> course gives a history <strong>of</strong> organized crime and the government’s responses to fight it. Newly<br />

emerging international crime groups are also discussed.<br />

540 SURVEY RESEARCH METHODS 3 credits<br />

Study <strong>of</strong> the survey research methods as applied to the analysis <strong>of</strong> public opinion, political behavior<br />

and public policy formation.<br />

541 THE POLICY PROCESS 3 credits<br />

Intensive study <strong>of</strong> policy-making process, emphasizing roles <strong>of</strong> various participants in executive<br />

and legislative branches as well as private individuals and groups.<br />

542 METHODS OF POLICY ANALYSIS 3 credits<br />

Examines variety <strong>of</strong> methods available for analyzing public policies. Techniques <strong>of</strong> cost benefit<br />

analysis, evaluation research quasi-experimentation are covered as well as consideration <strong>of</strong><br />

ethical questions in policy analysis, the practical problems facing policy analysts.<br />

543 POLITICAL SCANDALS AND CORRUPTION 3 credits<br />

This course will provide information on major political scandals, including media coverage,<br />

public opinion, the role <strong>of</strong> special prosecutors, and the impacts <strong>of</strong> scandals.<br />

545 AL QAEDA 3 credits<br />

This course explores the causes and consequences <strong>of</strong> Al Qaeda’s terrorism. Students will<br />

weigh different explanations for why individuals join and participate in terrorist groups.<br />

546 INTELLIGENCE AND COUNTERTERRORISM 3 credits<br />

<strong>The</strong> aim <strong>of</strong> this class is to familiarize students with intelligence and counterterrorism. It examines<br />

the politics <strong>of</strong> intelligence in the United States and other countries.<br />

550 ADMINISTERING PRISONS, PROBATION, AND PAROLE 3 credits<br />

This course examines the political dynamics <strong>of</strong> correctional institutions’ governance and internal<br />

power relations, electoral politics’ and correctional policies, and political imprisonment.<br />

561 THE SUPREME COURT AND CONSTITUTIONAL LAW 3 credits<br />

Interpretation <strong>of</strong> the Constitution by the Supreme Court with emphasis on federal judicial, legislative<br />

and executive power; separation <strong>of</strong> powers; and federalism.<br />

562 THE SUPREME COURT AND CIVIL LIBERTIES 3 credits<br />

Interpretation <strong>of</strong> the Constitution by the Supreme Court with emphasis on freedom <strong>of</strong> speech<br />

and press, freedom <strong>of</strong> religion, criminal rights and right to privacy.<br />

563 HUMAN RIGHTS IN WORLD POLITICS 3 credits<br />

An introduction to human rights from a comparative perspective; topics include: definition and<br />

development <strong>of</strong> human rights with attention paid to government interaction and wartime.<br />

570 CAMPAIGN MANAGEMENT I 3 credits<br />

Reading, research and practice in campaign management.<br />

571 CAMPAIGN MANAGEMENT II 3 credits<br />

<strong>The</strong> second course in campaign management. Focus is on timing, coalition building, candidate<br />

positioning, event planning, internal organization, and other elements <strong>of</strong> campaign strategy.<br />

572 CAMPAIGN FINANCE 3 credits<br />

Reading and research in financial decision making in political campaigns.<br />

573 VOTER CONTACT AND ELECTIONS 3 credits<br />

<strong>The</strong>oretical and practical approaches to gaining votes in all types <strong>of</strong> political campaigns.<br />

574 POLITICAL OPINION, BEHAVIOR AND ELECTORAL POLITICS 3 credits<br />

Advanced analysis <strong>of</strong> psychological, cultural and group processes <strong>of</strong> opinion formation and<br />

change. Attention given to the effect <strong>of</strong> opinion change on electoral outcomes.

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